Cisco (CSCO) Stock Today, November 17, 2025: AI Orders, EzDubs Deal and New Analyst Upgrades Fuel Momentum

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is back in the spotlight today as its share price hovers near record highs while Wall Street piles on new AI-related optimism, fresh price target hikes and a new AI translation acquisition. At the same time, several institutional investors are reshuffling their positions in the networking giant, giving traders plenty to digest on November 17, 2025. ^[1]

Cisco (CSCO) stock price today – November 17, 2025

As of the latest available data on Monday, November 17:

Last price: about $79 per share
Daily move: roughly +1–1.5% versus Friday’s close around $78 ^[2]
Intraday range: approximately $77.5 – $79.4 ^[3]
Market capitalization: around $307–311 billion ^[4]
52‑week range: roughly $52.11 – $79.50 ^[5]

The stock is trading very close to its 12‑month high, extending a rally driven by last week’s better‑than‑expected earnings and a sharply upgraded AI revenue outlook. Reuters recently noted that AI‑driven infrastructure demand has helped push Cisco shares to gains of nearly 25% for the year. ^[6]

Over the past month, CSCO is up about 11.2%, and over the last three months it has climbed roughly 15.9%, outpacing both the S&P 500 and the broader tech sector, according to Zacks data. ^[7]

Earnings recap: AI boom lifts Cisco’s outlook

Today’s trading still reflects the aftershocks of Cisco’s Q1 FY2026 earnings report, released on November 12 for the quarter ended October 25, 2025: ^[8]

Revenue: $14.88 billion, up about 7.5% year‑over‑year, slightly above analyst expectations.
GAAP net income: $2.9 billion; GAAP EPS $0.72.
Non‑GAAP EPS:$1.00, beating the consensus of about $0.98.
AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers: roughly $1.3 billion in the quarter. ^[9]

Crucially for the stock, Cisco raised its full‑year FY2026 guidance:

Revenue: now $60.2–61.0 billion, up from a prior $59–60 billion range. ^[10]
Non‑GAAP EPS: now $4.08–4.14, versus earlier guidance of $4.00–4.06. ^[11]
Management also expects around $3 billion in AI infrastructure revenue in fiscal 2026, following more than $2 billion in AI orders for fiscal 2025. ^[12]

Those AI numbers are now the backbone of the bullish narrative around CSCO, and most of today’s analyst and news flow builds on that story.

JPMorgan: AI orders for 2026 could surprise to the upside

One of today’s highest‑impact notes comes via JPMorgan, highlighted in a Benzinga report titled “Cisco Hints At Big AI Ramp — JPMorgan Says 2026 Orders Could Surprise To The Upside.” ^[13]

Key takeaways from JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee’s meeting with Cisco’s investor relations team:

Cisco’s fiscal 2026 AI order target of more than $4 billion is described as a “minimum‑level” objective, not a stretch goal. ^[14]
The AI opportunity pipeline — now over $2 billion, driven largely by “NeoCloud” and enterprise AI projects — has been built mostly over the last quarter, signaling accelerating demand. ^[15]
Sovereign AI opportunities are not yet fully reflected in that >$2 billion figure, suggesting further upside if government and regulated markets ramp spending. ^[16]
Margin pressure in Q1 was attributed mainly to product mix and tough comparisons rather than structural deterioration, while telco demand is seen as more durable than past 4G cycles. ^[17]

JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating on Cisco, effectively arguing that current AI order guidance may still prove conservative if the pipeline converts as expected. ^[18]

Citic Securities and others lift price targets

On the sell‑side, Citic Securities made headlines this morning by raising its CSCO price target from $75 to $90, implying roughly mid‑teens upside from recent levels. ^[19]

MarketBeat’s summary of the same move notes that: ^[20]

Citic maintains a bullish stance (an “Add” rating) with the new $90 target.
Other brokers have recently raised their targets as well:
- Piper Sandler: $70 → $86 (Neutral)
- HSBC: $69 → $74 (Hold)
- Argus: $80 → $100 (Buy)
- Rosenblatt Securities: $87 → $100 (Buy)
- Bank of America: $85 → $95 (Buy)
- JPMorgan: $80 → $90 (Overweight) ^[21]

Across data providers, the consensus picture looks like this:

Around 16–17 analysts rate Cisco a Buy, with another group at Hold. ^[22]
Average 12‑month price target clusters in the low‑to‑mid $80s (roughly $83.75–$84.31), suggesting moderate upside of around 7–9% from current prices. ^[23]

That said, Zacks currently assigns Cisco a Rank #3 (Hold), expecting the shares to broadly track the market in the near term even as earnings estimates edge higher. ^[24]

EzDubs acquisition: AI translation to supercharge Webex and collaboration

A fresh piece of M&A news is also on the tape today: multiple outlets report that Cisco has acquired Y‑Combinator–backed startup EzDubs, a real‑time speech translation app. ^[25]

From TechCrunch and related coverage:

EzDubs offers AI‑driven, speech‑to‑speech translation for live conversations, targeting consumer and creator use cases such as streaming and online meetings. ^[26]
Cisco previously announced its intent to acquire EzDubs via the Webex collaboration blog on November 14, highlighting the startup’s ability to translate conversations across 31 languages, capturing tone and intent, not just words. ^[27]
Today’s reports emphasize that Cisco plans to fold EzDubs into its collaboration and Webex portfolio, enhancing AI‑powered live voice translation and making multilingual meetings more natural. ^[28]

Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but strategically it fits Cisco’s broader AI story: combining networking, security, observability (via Splunk) and now AI‑enhanced collaboration to create a more integrated platform. ^[29]

For investors, the EzDubs deal underscores Cisco’s push to embed AI at all layers of its stack — from data centers and edge networks to the collaboration tools employees use every day.

Big money moves: institutional investors reshuffle CSCO holdings

Several 13F filings summarized today by MarketBeat show active position changes in Cisco among institutional investors: ^[30]

Mount Lucas Management LP opened a new position in Cisco during Q2, buying about 20,494 shares worth roughly $1.42 million, as part of a broader trend that leaves institutional investors owning around 73.3% of outstanding shares. ^[31]
Midwest Professional Planners LTD. boosted its stake by 31.1%, adding 3,535 shares to bring its holdings to 14,890 shares (about $1.03 million). ^[32]
Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings by 1.1% to about 795,427 shares, valued at more than $54 million in its latest filing. ^[33]
On the other side, LSV Asset Management trimmed its Cisco stake by 2.1%, selling 188,358 shares but still holding around 8.88 million shares, making CSCO its second‑largest position and about 0.22% of Cisco’s shares outstanding. ^[34]

Despite some profit‑taking, the overall picture is one of heavy institutional ownership and continued interest, with multiple smaller managers adding exposure while one large value‑oriented firm slightly reduces an already sizable stake.

International revenue trends under the microscope

A new research note syndicated via Finviz and authored by Zacks, “Don’t Overlook Cisco (CSCO) International Revenue Trends While Assessing the Stock,” zeroes in on regional performance in the latest quarter. ^[35]

Key points:

Total Q1 FY26 revenue: $14.88 billion, up 7.5% year‑over‑year. ^[36]
APJC (Asia Pacific, Japan & China):
- Revenue of about $2.11 billion, or 14.2% of the total.
- Slightly below Wall Street expectations, with a small negative “surprise” versus consensus. ^[37]
EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa):
- Around $3.78 billion, representing 25.4% of total revenue.
- Also modestly below analyst estimates, though still up sequentially and year‑over‑year. ^[38]

Zacks expects Cisco’s full‑year revenue to reach roughly $60.85 billion, implying around 7.4% growth, with APJC contributing ~14.2% and EMEA about 25.5%. ^[39]

The research house argues that Cisco’s reliance on international markets is both a diversification benefit and a source of risk, given currency swings and geopolitical uncertainty — a factor investors should watch alongside AI growth headlines. ^[40]

Dividend, balance sheet and defensive appeal

For income‑oriented investors, Cisco continues to lean on its shareholder return story:

The board recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, or $1.64 annually, implying a forward yield of roughly 2.1% at today’s price. ^[41]
Cisco returned about $3.6 billion to shareholders in Q1 FY26 through dividends and buybacks and still has more than $12 billion remaining under its repurchase authorization. ^[42]
MarketBeat and other sources put Cisco’s P/E ratio around 29–30, with a PEG ratio near 3.0, debt‑to‑equity around 0.49, and liquidity ratios (quick and current) near 1.0, underscoring a generally solid balance sheet. ^[43]

This combination of steady dividends, buybacks and a fortress‑like balance sheet is part of what makes CSCO appealing to many long‑term investors even as the AI story attracts growth‑oriented buyers.

Is CSCO getting expensive? A look at valuation and peers

Not all of today’s commentary is unconditionally bullish. A new Trefis article, “Stronger Bet Than Cisco Systems Stock: MSI, FFIV Deliver More,” argues that peers Motorola Solutions (MSI) and F5 (FFIV) may offer better risk‑reward at current prices. ^[44]

Trefis highlights that:

Cisco trades at a higher price‑to‑operating‑income multiple (about 24.7x) than MSI (22.8x) and FFIV (17.7x). ^[45]
Yet Cisco’s recent operating income and revenue growth trails both peers on several timeframes.
Their internal valuation model points to a fair value near $68.20, implying around 12% downside from today’s market price. ^[46]

While that’s just one model, it’s a reminder that after a double‑digit rally in a short period, valuation risk is back on the table. Investors now have to weigh AI‑driven upside against the possibility that a lot of good news is already priced in.

Sentiment check: AI narrative, hedge funds and search interest

Beyond formal research reports:

Insider Monkey’s “10 AI Stocks Investors Are Watching” list features Cisco at #7, noting that BofA Securities recently raised its price target to $95 and cited strong AI networking orders and campus refresh demand as the key growth drivers. ^[47]
Zacks notes that Cisco is among the most heavily searched tickers on its platform today, reflecting elevated retail and institutional attention. ^[48]

Taken together, this points to very strong interest and expectations around CSCO — a classic setup for heightened volatility if future AI or macro data disappoints.

What to watch next for Cisco stock

For traders and investors following CSCO after today’s headlines, the key monitor points include:

AI orders and revenue conversion
- Whether Cisco can turn its $2+ billion AI pipeline and $4+ billion FY26 order target into realized revenue while defending margins. ^[49]
Integration of EzDubs and other AI acquisitions
- How quickly Cisco weaves EzDubs (and other AI assets like NeuralFabric) into Webex and Collaboration, and whether that translates into higher growth or pricing power in software and services. ^[50]
International demand trends
- Performance in EMEA and APJC relative to expectations, especially if global growth slows or currency volatility increases. ^[51]
Valuation vs. peers
- Whether Cisco’s multiple continues to expand on AI enthusiasm or starts to compress toward peers like MSI and FFIV as investors refocus on relative growth metrics. ^[52]
Upcoming quarters and investor events
- Delivery against the newly raised FY2026 guidance and any additional AI‑focused product or partnership announcements. ^[53]

Bottom line

On November 17, 2025, Cisco stock is trading near its highs with:

Strong AI‑driven earnings momentum and upgraded guidance,
A new AI translation acquisition (EzDubs) expanding its collaboration story,
Fresh price‑target hikes from multiple brokers,
Significant institutional ownership and renewed buying from several funds, and
A growing debate over valuation as the stock outperforms the broader market.

For now, CSCO remains one of the most closely watched large‑cap tech names, sitting squarely at the intersection of AI infrastructure, security, observability and collaboration.

Note: This article is for information and news purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, stock recommendations or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Always do your own research or consult a licensed financial professional before making investment decisions.

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